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Your Fall Chimney Checklist: 7 Things to Do Before You Light That First Fire
May 8, 2026
There’s a specific feeling on the first cold evening of fall in northeastern Pennsylvania. The air shifts, the light gets shorter, and at some point that week you find yourself thinking: I should probably get a fire going tonight.
Before you do, work through this checklist. Most of it takes ten minutes. Some of it requires a phone call. None of it is optional if you want the first fire of the season to actually be enjoyable instead of the moment you discover something is wrong.
Here’s what every NEPA homeowner should check before lighting that first fire.
1. Schedule a Professional Chimney Inspection (or Confirm This Year’s Is Done)
This is the one thing on the list you can’t do yourself, and it’s the most important. The National Fire Protection Association recommends an annual inspection for every home with a chimney, regardless of how often you use it. In NEPA — with our freeze-thaw cycles, long heating seasons, and older housing stock — the case for annual inspection is even stronger than the national norm.
If you’ve already had your chimney inspected this year, great. Confirm the date and make sure you’re working from a current report.
If you haven’t, this is the moment. Late August through early October is the right window — the weather is still warm enough for any needed repairs to be done properly, and you’ll be ahead of the November rush when every chimney company in the region is booked solid.
A proper Level 1 or Level 2 inspection covers the visible portions of the chimney inside and out, the firebox and damper, the smoke chamber, and the flue interior. If a video scan of the flue hasn’t been done in several years — or ever — ask for one. It’s the only way to actually see what’s going on inside the liner.
Action: If your inspection isn’t done yet, call now. Don’t wait until the first cold night.
2. Look Up at the Chimney from the Ground
You don’t need to climb on the roof to do a useful visual check. Stand in your yard with a pair of binoculars and look at the chimney itself, paying attention to:
- The chimney cap — is it in place, undamaged, free of debris and obvious bird nests
- The chimney crown — any visible cracks, missing pieces, or vegetation growing on it
- The brick faces — any obvious leaning, shifted bricks, large cracks, or sections that look out of plumb
- The mortar joints — any sandy crumbling, missing chunks, or daylight visible through the joints
- White staining or dark streaks running down the brick
- The flashing where the chimney meets the roof — any visibly lifted, rusted, or compromised metal
You’re not trying to do a professional inspection. You’re trying to spot anything obvious that wasn’t there last spring. If something looks off, take a photo and send it to your chimney service when you call.
Action: Five minutes with binoculars in the yard. If anything looks wrong, mention it specifically when you schedule the inspection.
3. Check Inside the Firebox and Damper
Open the fireplace doors and the damper. Look inside with a flashlight.
What you want to see:
- A clean firebox with no significant debris
- A damper that opens and closes smoothly through its full range of motion
- No animal nesting material, leaves, or other debris inside the throat of the chimney
- No water staining on the damper, smoke shelf, or back wall of the firebox
What you don’t want to see:
- Pieces of clay tile or chunks of mortar in the firebox (a sign the liner is deteriorating)
- A damper that won’t fully open, rusted shut, or warped out of shape
- Significant rust on metal components (a sign water is getting in)
- Smell of dampness or strong creosote odor
- Any nesting materials at all
If you see any of those red flags, do not light a fire. Schedule the inspection first.
Action: Quick flashlight check of the firebox. Operate the damper to confirm it works.
4. Test Your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
This isn’t strictly a chimney checklist item, but it absolutely belongs on a “before first fire” list. Pennsylvania law requires CO detectors in homes with fuel-burning heating systems, fireplaces, or attached garages — and a working detector is the last line of defense if something goes wrong with your chimney.
Run through this:
- Press the test button on every smoke detector in the house. They should sound.
- Press the test button on every CO detector. They should sound.
- Check the battery indicator and replace any batteries that are weak or were last changed more than a year ago.
- Check the manufacture date on each detector. Smoke detectors generally need replacement every 10 years; CO detectors every 5 to 7 years (check the manufacturer’s specification on the back of the unit).
- Make sure detectors are installed on every level of the home, including the basement, and near sleeping areas.
If you find a detector that doesn’t sound when tested, replace it immediately. Don’t wait until “later this week.”
Action: Test every detector. Replace batteries and any units past their service life.
5. Inspect Your Firewood Supply
If you burn wood, the quality of your wood matters more than most homeowners realize. Wet, green, or unseasoned wood is the single biggest contributor to creosote buildup, and creosote buildup is what causes chimney fires.
Walk through your woodpile and check:
- Dryness. Properly seasoned firewood has been split and dried for at least 6 to 12 months, depending on species. Hardwoods like oak, maple, and ash need longer than softer woods.
- Moisture content. A moisture meter (around $20-30 at any hardware store) is genuinely worth owning if you burn wood regularly. You want readings under 20% for safe efficient burning.
- Visual signs of seasoning. Properly seasoned wood is lighter than green wood, has visible cracks radiating from the center of the cut end, and makes a sharp ringing sound when two pieces are knocked together — not a dull thud.
- Storage. Firewood should be stacked off the ground, with the stack covered on top but open on the sides for airflow. Wood sitting on the ground or wrapped in a tarp like a burrito doesn’t dry — it stays wet.
If your wood supply isn’t ready, the fix is to start a properly stacked pile now and burn dryer wood you can buy in smaller quantities through this winter while next year’s pile seasons.
Action: Confirm your firewood is dry and properly stored. If it’s questionable, set up better storage now.
6. Test the Draft Before Lighting a Real Fire
Before you load up the fireplace and light a full fire, do a draft test. This takes about 30 seconds and can save you a smoke-filled living room.
Open the damper fully. Light a single sheet of newspaper rolled into a torch and hold it up inside the firebox, near the open damper. Watch where the smoke goes:
- Smoke draws cleanly upward into the flue. Good draft. You’re ready to light a fire.
- Smoke hangs in the firebox or rolls back into the room. The chimney isn’t drafting properly. Don’t light a real fire until you understand why.
Common reasons for poor draft on a first-light test:
- The chimney is cold (the fix is to “prime” the flue with a longer-burning paper torch to warm the air column)
- A blockage somewhere in the flue
- A house under significant negative pressure from competing exhaust appliances (range hood, bathroom fans, dryer)
- A liner or chimney structure problem you weren’t aware of
If priming the flue doesn’t fix the draft problem within a couple of attempts, stop and call for an inspection. Burning a fire that won’t draft is how living rooms fill with smoke and how CO accumulates indoors.
Action: Single-sheet draft test before any real fire.
7. Confirm Your Hearth Area Is Set Up Safely
The chimney is the dramatic part, but the area immediately around the fireplace deserves attention too. Walk through and check:
- Clearance. Nothing combustible within 36 inches of the firebox opening. This includes furniture, drapes, holiday decorations, kindling baskets, and stacked firewood.
- Hearth condition. The hearth itself (the non-combustible floor surface in front of the fireplace) should be intact, with no cracked tiles, missing grout, or damaged stone. The hearth needs to extend the full code-required distance in front of and to either side of the firebox opening.
- Glass doors. If you have fireplace doors, the glass should be intact and the seals should be in reasonable condition.
- Spark screen or grate. If you don’t use glass doors, you need a working metal spark screen during use. Check that it’s in place and free of damage.
- Fire extinguisher. A working fire extinguisher should be accessible in the room. Check the gauge — it should be in the green zone. Replace or recharge if not.
- Ash bucket. A metal ash bucket with a tight-fitting metal lid, kept outdoors on a non-combustible surface, is the only safe place to put ashes from a recent fire. Ashes can stay hot enough to ignite something for days. House fires from improperly handled ashes happen every winter.
Take a few minutes on this. The hearth area is one of those things that drifts out of safe configuration over the summer when nobody’s paying attention to it.
Action: Clear the area, check the equipment, confirm the fire extinguisher works.
A Few Bonus Items Worth Knowing
If you’ve got a wood stove rather than (or in addition to) a fireplace, the inspection requirements are the same, but check the stove gasket condition and the door seal — both should be intact and tight.
If you heat with oil and don’t use the fireplace, your chimney still needs annual inspection. The oil furnace vents through that flue, and the same problems we’ve discussed all apply.
If you’ve added a wood-burning insert, a pellet stove, or a new appliance to an existing chimney within the last few years, your chimney must have been relined to match the new appliance. If you’re not 100% certain that was done — or done correctly — this is the year to confirm.
If you’re heating a Pocono or Wayne County mountain home that you don’t occupy full-time, schedule the inspection earlier rather than later. Off-season chimneys collect more debris, more animal activity, and more surprises than continuously-heated chimneys.
Why This Checklist Matters Especially in NEPA
NEPA winters are unforgiving. The freeze-thaw cycles wear chimneys down faster than milder climates do. The long heating season puts more total load on the system. The high concentration of older homes means more original masonry still in service. The cold snaps come hard and fast, and the day you discover your chimney has a problem is usually the day you need it most.
A two-hour fall checkup catches the things that would otherwise become emergencies in February. The professional inspection identifies what’s hidden inside the flue. The visual checks identify what changed since spring. The detector tests confirm your last line of defense is working.
This isn’t about being paranoid. It’s about being ready. The best fall evenings in NEPA happen with a proper fire going in a chimney that’s working exactly the way it should.
Schedule Your Pre-Winter Inspection
If item #1 on this checklist isn’t done yet, that’s the right phone call to make today. We’re already booking inspections through fall, and slots fill up fast as the weather turns. Catch us early and we can do the inspection, identify any needed repairs, and get the work completed while there’s still warm weather to do it in.
We serve homeowners across Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Gouldsboro, Dupont, Hawley, Moscow, Stroudsburg, the Poconos, and the surrounding NEPA region. Licensed and insured in Pennsylvania. Stainless steel liners manufactured here. Inspections that actually tell you what your chimney needs.
Call 1-800-943-1515 or request a free quote online to get on the schedule.
Get the checklist done. Light the fire. Enjoy the season.